Washington Wizards; 3 reasons Tommy Sheppard deserves GM job

1. Wizards’ basketball operations undergo ‘monumental’ change

Owner Ted Leonsis officially announced Tommy Sheppard as the Washington Wizards’ new GM on July 22. But the changes did not stop there.

Structural adjustments that affect the Wiz, G-League affiliate Capital City Go-Go, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and Wizards District Gaming were unveiled later that day, as an umbrella organization called “Monumental Basketball.”

A number of new faces joined to “oversee shared services” between MSE’s basketball and e-sports teams. Sashi Brown, former Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Cleveland Browns, will serve as the entity’s Chief Planning and Operations Officer.

Former Georgetown University coach John Thompson III was added to oversee an athlete development and engagement department for all four teams.

And former Vice President of Athletic Care for the Philadelphia 76ers Daniel Medina will now be Monumental Basketball’s Chief of Athlete Care & Performance.

Sheppard did not shepherd this management revision single-handedly. But his reset of the Wizards’ organizational culture appears as a key reason for Leonsis pursuing these monumental changes.

In an interview with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Leonsis discussed Sheppard’s preparation for NBA draft night and free agency and how he set about achieving his goals.

"“I didn’t spend a lot of time with Tommy because of the hierarchy, but I told him: ‘Let me see how you work. Let me see how you handle the draft. Let me see a strategy document and a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C.’ “He came back and said he needed assets and young players, and that we needed to connect the draft to free agency. Our big goal was to get more coachable players that fit a system that the coaches wanted to play, that would get us younger, hungrier players that would be helped by our development coaches.”"

Because of Sheppard’s actions this summer, Leonsis was eventually able to combine these four distinct teams under one collaborative roof. Sheppard’s acquisitions and trades paved the way for Monumental Basketball, in my opinion.

Sheppard’s organizational reset for the Wizards is not just limited to player movement. According to Hughes, the team plans to augment their investment in analytics by “triple,” a source of his said.

The Wizards also aim to increase their scouting division, with special attention to the continents of Africa and Latin America.

This article from D.C. radio station 106.7 FM shows that Sheppard was a strong proponent for pooling together the resources and minds of various MSE teams when interviewing for GM.

"“It’s something we really proposed to Ted when I went through the interview process. More firepower, we need more minds, more creative, diverse backgrounds to help us be the world-class organization that we both thought we could be. “We’re gonna all collaborate together to make sure we’ve got all the best information to make the best decision. That’s a no-brainer."